Ultrakill Blue and Red Skulls (Ferryman Keys)

    Hey guys, I just wanted to share another cool way to adapt ComplicatedKnots Skull pattern found here: Ravelry Skull Pattern In a previous post: The Five Children of Sithis and the Night Mother I showed how I adapted the skulls for another video game piece. I previously made the five skulls you see present in Oblivion and on the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary doors in the Elder Scrolls games. You can read more about it in the link provided above. 

    Today I want to focus on another cool way to adapt this pattern, and support a fellow artist while doing it. So please check her stuff out, she's also found on IG and youtube. The pattern is free for anyone interested. 

    So shortly after finishing my Dark Brotherhood gamer den decor, my son saw them and started playing with them. I asked him if he wanted one in his favorite color. But instead he brought up another game that I am not too familiar with but have seen him play. Ultrakill. So as far as I understand there are these two skulls, a blue and a red one he wanted. They open doors to other levels. The game itself is a parody of Dante's Inferno with a robot that kills demons and runs on demon blood. So if your kids play this game or if you yourself do and are interested in something cool for your desk or gamers den I present to you this adaptation below.

    Now I won't break the pattern down here for you guys, the link is provided above. However, I will provide my changes below which are minimal. To me I don't see harm in commentary or reviews on others patterns once in a while since it runs under a fair use clause. I decided I really do like this pattern and would definitely rate it a 5 stars! Here I am making it again for a total of 8 skulls in the house.

    Here's a couple examples of the finished skulls.

 

    And here's what I did to adapt the pattern for Ultrakill use.

    After I finished closing the one side of either skull. I stopped crocheting so that I could embroider the runes into the skull correctly. I know some folks do this sort of thing after something is fully made and stuffed to prevent distorting but I didn't see it being an issue with something so simple. I can see it being a problem with facial features though. With these skulls I found that depending on your yarn it was best to not over stuff them anyways. You might want to consider that a factor when making yours.

    So I know I could have used embroidery thread for something this small but felt it better and more durable to use Aunt Lydia's crochet thread size 10. (Not a paid or sponsored endorsement.) That's what I had on hand at the time and I think it worked out perfectly. I don't know that I would use a matching black worsted yarn on this for the runes. I think in my opinion, it would be too thick and potentially distort.

    First I triple knotted my thread and inserted the needle from the backside out to the front doing the cross first. I wanted to be more sure of placement on the front, the back wouldn't be seen. I was carefully strategic not always placing stitches in-between stitches but using the backside to sometimes push through strands of thread. 

    I did three rounds on each area, first the cross then created a diamond shape not a circle, and carefully placed stitches to push it into a circular shape. Next I placed the horned portion on the circle, pulling the last thread round underneath the top sections of the circle section so that I could round it out more. The goal was to create the alchemic symbol for Mercury.

(Using the horn positioning to pull the circle strategically into place.)

    Here's a couple images, one finished and one of the backside. You don't need to be perfect since that's going to be on the inside. I was more primarily interested with how the right side was going to appear. 

    Then obviously from here you would continue onto the next part of ComplicatedKnots youtube tutorial and finish up the skull. Continue down below for the red skull images and partial demo. 

    Once again I was careful and planned my placement, being sure to start with the cross portion first. Making sure to make several passes through each area to build that image up.

    When it came to embroidering the triangle portion I pushed it out a little bit further than the cross, since it appears that the official art shows that to be part of the design. 

    This one was easier to do and the backside looks cleaner too.

    And then from here, like with the last skull, I just continued on with ComplicatedKnots tutorial. Here are some finished images below. I'm not a professional photographer, but hey, it'll give you an idea on how to decorate your space.

 

Well there they are, kind of cool in my opinion on how these turned out! If you are a crocheter, I hope you can make a fellow Ultrakill fan happy or if you are a fan and a crocheter, I hope this will be double fun!

P.S. Happy Friday the 13th!